Threshing-machine.



No. 844,627. PATENTED FEB. 19, 1907. R. SYLVESTER.

THRESHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 0OT.14. 1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Wiizwsas. 6mm 214.45 M.

No. 844,627. PATENTED FEB. 19, 1907. R. SYLVESTER.

THRESHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-14. 1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Ww'wfisas. N Inferior. mm @J @444;

PATENTED FEB. 19, 1907. R. SYLVESTER.

THRBSHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 001214. 1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

PATENTED FEB. 19, 1907.

R. SYLVESTER. THRESHING MACHINE;

APPLIOATION FILED OUT-14. 1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

RICHARD SYLVESTER, OF LINDSAY, ONTARIO, CANADA.

THRESHlNG-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 19, 1907.

Application filed October 14. 1904. Serial No. 228,466.

To all whom itmay concern.-

Be it known that I, RICHARD SYLvEsTER, of the town of Lindsay, in thecounty of Victoria, Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Threshing-Machines; and I hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

The objects of this invention are, first, to combine with the separatingmechanism of a threshing-machine a motor, preferably of the calorificclass, in which steam, gas, coal-oil, wood-alcohol, or gasolene is usedas the motive agent, and to simultaneously translate from the motor tothe traction-wheels and to the separating mechanism, or to either ofthem independently of the other, by suitable transmitting means thedriving motion of the motor second, to dry the gram as it asses throughthe separating mechanism y an induced air-current created by the actionof the fan or blower revolving in the fan-cylinder and heated by itscontact with the motor and radiator as it circulates toward theair-inlet of the separator and by its contact with the casing of thefan-cylinder heated by direct radiation from the heater.

In carrying out the first of these objects the threshing-machine isequipped with steering and driving Wheels, the latter of which aredriven by a suitable gearing from the motor, which is preferably mountedupon or suspended from the middle of the threshingmachine frame in frontof the fan or blower in such a manner that the minimum of lightness andcompactness may be combined with the maximum of power and speed withoutinterfering with or impairing the strength or action of any of theoperating parts of the threshing apparatus, and to transmit the drivingmotion by a suitable arrangement of belts or gearin from the same mptorto the driven parts 0 the separating mechanism, the gearing fortranslating the driving motion of the motor to the driving-wheels and tothe driven parts of the separating mechanism being arranged to be throwninto and out of action by suitable controlling means.

In carrying out the second object ofthe invention the motor and theradiator or coils of pipes employed for cooling the water circulatingfrom the water-tank through the water-jacket of the motor are placed infront of the fan or blower, so that the air-current induced or createdby the revolution of the fan must circulate around and through them andby its contact with them become heated as it passes to the air-inlet ofthe separating mechanism, through which it is drawn by the suctioncreated by the revolution of the fan, so that when the-grain isdelivered from theseparating mechanism it will be for all practicalpurposes in a perfectly dry condition irrespective of the condition ofthe sheaf when it enters the cylinder of the separator, the degree ofdryness depending entirely upon the temperature of the air-current andthe speed at which the grain is passing over the screens or sieves.

For a full understanding of the invention reference is to be had to thefollowing description and to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure1 is an elevation of one side of the motor-driven threshin -machine,showing the relative position 0 the various parts. Fig. 2 is a similarview of the same machine looking at it from the opposite side. Fig. 3 isa lon itudinal sectional view of a portion of the threshing-machine,showing the location of the motor, the radiator, and the heater andtheir relative position to. the blower or fan. Fig. 4 is a detail viewof the power-transmitting gear translating the motion of the motor tothe driving-wheels of the threshing-machine.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts throughout thespecification and drawings.

The separator a, which may be of any preferred type, is mounted upon amotor-truck I), having a platformc beneath the feeder of the separatorfor the accommodation of the operator, the motor-controlling mechanism,and the steering a paratus. Near the rear end. of the motor-true is theaxled for the drivin wheels e, the inner faces of the rims of Whic areprovided with annular gear-wheels f, and mes ing with the annulargear-wheels f are inion-Wheels g, mounted u on and revouble with thepinion-shaft ,journaled in bearings connected to the motor-truck,preferably in front of the drivin -wheel axle. The pinion-shaft h-has asproc et-wheel 'i, driven from the sprocket-wheel j by a sprocket-chainm.

The s rocket-wheel j is driven through intermediate gearing located inthe casing I from a shaft 1', having thereon a sprocket- Wheel w, drivenfrom the sprocket-wheel :1: on the motor-shaft y by means of asprocketchain 2. The casing l contains a suitable l clutch by means ofwhich the driving con- I nection above mentioned may be renderedineffective to transmit motion to the axle d, and the intermediategearing is of the ty e known as variable-speed gearing, y means of whichthe speed ratio between the shaft of the motor and the driving-axle dmay be varied,

The motor-shaft y is driven by the motor 8, mounted upon or suspendedfrom the motor-truck b, preferably in front of the middle of the blowert. Inclosin the motor s is a water-jacket u, connecte with the watertanko by the flow-pipes w and with the radiator or cooling-coil m by meansof the radiator-pipes y The water circulates from the water-tank 1)through the flow-pipes w to the water-jacket u and then through theradiator-pipes y to the radiator or coolingcoil as, from which itreturns to the watertank 1) through the return-pipe z. The exhaust fromthe motor 5 passes through the heater a, which is preferably locatedbelow and in contact with the casing b of the blower. The radiator orcooling-coilm is located adjoining the heater a and opposite the opening0" into the blower, and during the revolution of the fan d within theblower an air-current is drawn through the opening 0, being partiallyheated as it passes around the motor and through and over the radiatorand still more so as it comes into contact with the heated casing of theblower. This current is driven by the fan through the screens or sievesand through the machine to dry the grain during the threshing orseparating process, so that the grain when it leaves the separator willbe for all practical purposes in a perfectly dry condition.

The water-tank v and the gasolene-tank e are placed on the top of theseparator, so that their fluids will flow by gravity, respectively, intothe water-jacket and motor. The motor s drives the cylinder-shaft kthrough suitable belts as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. Atone or both sides of the front end of the motor-truck b is the sheafcarrier or basket f into which the sheaves are thrown, and toautomatically lift these sheaves to the feeder each sheaf-carrier isequipped with an elevator 9, having a jointed shaft h", driven by anintermeshing gear i from the feeder-belt shaft j". The sides k of theelevator g are loosely mounted upon the elevator-shaft it", so that theycan be dropped into a vertical position against the sides of the frontend of the separater or motor truck or placed in an operative positionat any suitable angle thereto, and journaled in the lower or free endsof the sides It is the sprocket-wheel shaft Z, upon which is mountedsprocketwheels m alining with corresponding sprocket-wheels 0,

suitable steering-handle.

seaeav mounted upon the elevator-shaft h. Passing around thesprocket-wheels m and 0 are sprocket-chains having pivoted arms q toengage the sheaves as they come into position around the sprocket-wheelsupon the sprocket-wheel shaft Z" and raise them to the top of theelevator and drop them upon the feeder-belt s.

The elevator-shaft I being driven from the feeder-belt shaft j and thefeeder-belt shaft j being ordinarily driven from the cyl' inder-shaft kby suitable belts, (not shown,) it is possible to regulate the speed ofthe delivery of the sheaves upon the feeder-belt to correspond with thedelivery of the sheaves by the feeder-belt to the cylinder.

By reference to the drawings it will be noticed that the sheaf carrieror basket f consists of two outwardly-inclined arms 1", hinged to thefree ends of the elevator sides 7c in such a manner that they can befolded against the truck or separator sides when not in use. Connectedto the apparatus adjacent to the delivery end of the grain-spout i is aplatform 13 for an attendant to stand upon while bagging the grain as itis delivered from the separator. The front axle 'w oscillates upon theking-bolt an, passing through the front bolster 'y, bolted or otherwiserigidly fastened to the motor-truck sides contiguous to the front endJournaled in bearings a at the front end of the sides I) of themotor-truck is a shaft 0 upon which chains or other flexible connectingmembers f are wound, which chains extend to and engagethe front axle w.The shaft 0 is rotated by means of any By .means of the steering deviceabove mentioned it will be seen thatv it is possible to control thedirection of movement of the threshing outfit. When threshing from thestack or mow, the clutch in the casing Z is moved into its neutra-lposition, so that no motionwill be transmitted to the drive-wheels, andso long as the clutch is in that position the drive-wheels of thethreshing-machine will remain -motion less, while the motor transmitsits motion to the cylinder and other driven parts. When threshing in thefield and feeding from the shock or ungathered sheaves, the clutch andvariable-speed gearing are so adjusted as to throw the low-speed gearinto action to cause the rotation of the drive-wheels during the actionof the separating mechanism, so

that the threshing-machine mayadvance or retire along the rows ofsheaves or shocks and thresh the grain during its advance.

When advancing without operating the sepa-' rating mechanism, thevariable-speed gear-= ing is adjusted to bring the high-speed gearwheelsinto action, as the full power of the motor can then be employed forturning the drive-wheels of the threshing-machine.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new, and desire to securelby Letters Patent, is

1. In a motor-driven threshing-machine, a suitable motor; driving-wheelsoperated by said motor for propelling said threshingmachine;variable-speed gearing interposed between said motor and saiddriving-wheels; a clutch also interposed between said motor and saiddriving-wheels; separating mechanism constituting a part of saidthreshing-majchine; and means for transmitting motion the fan or blowerto heat the air passing therethrough and means for operativelytransmitting motion from the motor to the drive-Wheels separatingmechanism and fan or blower.

3. i A motor-driven threshing-machine having steering and drive wheels,a separating mechanism, a fanor blower to create an aircurrent throughthe se arating mechanism,

a motor suspended in rout of and a heater suspended below the fan orblower to heat the air passing therethrough, and means for operativelytransmitting motion from a the motor to the drive-wheels, separatingmechanism and fan or blower.

4. A motor-driven threshing-machine having steering and drive wheels, aseparating mechanism, a fan or blower to create an aircurrent throughthe separating mechanism, a motor and a radiator sus ended in front ofand a heater suspended elow the fan or blower to heat the air passingtherethrough and means for operatively transmittim motion from the motorto the drive-wheels, separating mechanism and fan or blower.

5. A motor-driven threshing-machine having steering and drive wheels, aseparating mechanism, a fan or blower therefor to create a currentthrough the separating mechanism, a motor, a radiator, so positioned asto enable its heat units to be absorbed by the air-current created bythe fan or blower, in

circulation with the water-space of the motor, and means for operativelytransmitting motion from the motor to the drive-wheels, separatingmechanism and fan or blower.

6. In a motor-driven threshing-machine, separating mechanism comprisinga fan or blower, a heater in contact with the casing of said blower, anexplosion-motor for 0 erating said threshing-machine, and a con uit forconducting the exhaust-gases from said motor to said heater.

- Lindsay, September 28 1904.

RICHARD SYLVESTER. In presence of A. EDA SYLvEs'rER,

T. E. SYLVESTER.

